Sinbad, who accompanied Hillary Clinton on a trip to Bosnia with Sheryl Crow that the former first lady has cited as an example of her foreign policy experience, isn't buying it.
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The Sinbad Factor
11 Mar 2008 03:03 pm
Comments (79)
In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said, "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."
Is it really a good idea to promote the fact (and remind everyone) that Bill was obviously using any excuse to get some separation time?
And "too dangerous"? Please. What a joke.
Still - Matt, tell us she will win again, please. It's been way too long.
Better headline:
Necessary Roughness
This race has officially jumped the shark.
Clinton/Sinbad '08 - DO WE EAT HERE OR AT THE NEXT PLACE?!
Is that available as a bumper sticker yet? 'Cuz I'd buy it.
Sinbad: Ready On Day One!!!
Maybe she'll ask him to be her VP.
Sinbad's stock just went way up in my book.
"What got me about Hillary was her attitude of entitlement, like he messed up her plan, like he had no reason to be there," Sinbad said. "I got angry. I actually got angry! I said, 'I will be for Obama like never before.'"
But he's less ticked off with the Clinton campaign than he is with Saturday Night Live for its Hillary-loving sketches that portray Obama as an unqualified nervous Nelly. What really bothers him is SNL's choice of actor (Fred Armisen) to play Obama.
"My problem is -- you couldn't just temporarily hire a black man to play Obama? You had to put a white man in a black face? You couldn't find a light-skinned brother to play Obama?"
EXACTLY! But of course Sinbad is part of the black comedian demographic, so his opinion doesn't count.
Things like this would be hilarious if they weren't true. HRC, go away!
In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said, "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."Say what? As Sinbad put it: "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"
good times, good times.
It's a pity my vote has already been cast. With this information I feel as if I must vote for Sheryl Crow.
Sinbad, like the media, is biased against Hillary Clinton. When Hillary puffs up her resume, claims to have cured world poverty, or says she once took out a terrorist cell in Kuwait armed only with a knife and a pair of enormous pantyhose- YOU MUST BELIEVE HER. It's only polite.
First, the little girl from the 3AM ad, now Sinbad! Obama's got all the big guns.
Let's face it, if Sinbad didn't back up Obama his career would be more over than it already is.
So Phil Singer is saying Sinbad is more qualified than Obama because he's been to Bosnia. I realize he's being snarky, but this sounds like pro-Obama snark to me. As in "this C-in-C threshold argument is so inane that, by the Clinton campaign's logic, Sinbad would make a better president than Obama."
The Sinbad comments are the best thing to happen to this benighted comments section since the move to the Atlantic.
Sinbad? No, Singood!!
Clinton/Sinbad 08? Oh I can already smell the Republican attack machine...
Sinbad? Sounds like an Arabic name! Do we really want a muslim in the White House?
"In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said, "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."
Say what? As Sinbad put it: "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"
That last bit led to a flow blown laugh-snort. Well-played.
to this benighted comments section
Admittedly I'd forgotten what the word "benighted" meant:
1. intellectually or morally ignorant; unenlightened: benighted ages of barbarism and superstition.
Funny. Are you referring to Tim K?
We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady
She could be winning the nomination right now if they'd have followed that strategy campaigning.
I'm just sorry she didn't take Gilbert Gottfried to Northern Ireland with her. Of course his recounting would be unprintable, but still.
the part about SNL: i swear i said that same exact thing last night! its so obvious to me that snl has all but said they endorse clinton.
if they really thought/wanted obama around past august, they would hire an actor who can play a better obama. there is no shortage of qualified actors in nyc.
armisen's obama is horrendous and so 1-dimensional. its like he's never actually seen obama but takes his cues on what fox news says obama is like.
'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"
Perfect.
Maybe Bill was trying get her knocked off.
SINNNNNNNBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!
Experience: It's what's for dinner.
Again, if appearing on Saturday Night Live is any indicator of experience, Hillary Clinton is a shoe in, as the Democratic nominee. Still and all, one might think Saturday Night would learn after the ill timed and irresponsible “Branch Dav-idiots” spoof, it made during the Waco standoff. Of course, SNL couldn’t foresee the Clintons calling Attorney General Janet Reno to the White House the following day, Sunday. SNL couldn’t know that only days later the situation would end badly. Of course SNL knows better in 2008, but few in 1995 knew the thin-skinned, volatile and incendiary nature of either Clinton, or the grasping synergy between them. As for Hillary, “Her experience speaks for itself,” says former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who is advising her campaign: http://theseedsof9-11.com
Famous Quotes From The Clinton White House, As Remembered By Sinbad: “I can't go ‘cause I might get shot so I’m going to send my wife ... oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.” –Sinbad, 2008
But I can testify that we faced far more difficult choices than the question of dinner. I can't tell you how many meetings the three of us had over what outfits to wear or who got to ride shotgun.
This piece by Obama-supporter and former Clinton State Dept. Official Greg Craig goes in to real detail about Hillary's lack of experience for anyone who is in doubt:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/clintons_exaggerated_experienc.html
His piece is the detail behind Sindad's symbol.
There is no reason to believe, however, that she was a key player in foreign policy at any time during the Clinton Administration. She did not sit in on National Security Council meetings. She did not have a security clearance. She did not attend meetings in the Situation Room. She did not manage any part of the national security bureaucracy, nor did she have her own national security staff. She did not do any heavy-lifting with foreign governments, whether they were friendly or not. She never managed a foreign policy crisis, and there is no evidence to suggest that she participated in the decision-making that occurred in connection with any such crisis. As far as the record shows, Senator Clinton never answered the phone either to make a decision on any pressing national security issue - not at 3 AM or at any other time of day.
Clinton/Sinbad would be a great ticket. I also have White House experience because I served as a bodyguard for the First Kid for eight years.
Obama needs Sinbad and Sheryl Crow to make a commercial together on this ending with:
"We have the same foreign policy experience as Senator Clinton. Would you vote for either of us for president? Nope. Then why would you vote for Senator Clinton?"
But wait, the followers of the faux-experience candidate are the clear-eyed non-cultists because she's old and hates pretty words.
For the record, SNL has openly been looking for a good Obama for about 2 months. As soon as he won Iowa, I remember reading that they were having open casting. So take it easy. Also, Fred Armisen would not be considered a "white" man in a lot of circles.
So Sinbad--whoever the hell that is--who is an Obama supporter, spouts Obama talking points.
Yawn.
Okay, Sinbad, you've served your country, now back to the comedians-I-thought-or-at-least-wished-really-hard-were-dead underground.
Has Clinton ever gone to Kenya and Indonesia? Obama went there before her probably. Knowing something about two Muslim-majority countries, especially the largest one in the world, should count for something these days.
Hillary's been to something like 80 countries, so yeah, she's probably been there.
I wish I made this up.
Any chance we could declare a moratorium on using the verbs "spout" and "spew" to describe how people talk about ideas?
Interestingly, the guy that writes the political material for SNL is Jim Downey, a registered Republican. He used to write it with Robert Smigel, who is a Democrat, but Smigel doesn't write regularly for the show anymore.
And Fred Armisen is not 100% white, he's half-Asian. I really don't see a big problem with him playing Obama, and I'm an Obama supporter. Darrell Hammond does a hilarious Jesse Jackson all the time and no one seems to have a problem with it.
For the record, SNL has openly been looking for a good Obama for about 2 months. As soon as he won Iowa, I remember reading that they were having open casting. So take it easy. Also, Fred Armisen would not be considered a "white" man in a lot of circles.
Whatever. SNL has jumped the shark. They're not courageous and nobody watches it anymore. I used to like Tina Fey but her head has gotten to big. I still like Amy Poehler, who is fantastic.
John Petty,
You don't know who Sinbad is? Let me guess, you don't watch Television, and you only watch foreign films with subtitles. You're a nerd. I wish the worst upon you.
Before I vote, I'd like to hear what Paul Rodriguez has to say.
Has Nipsey Russell or Charles Nelson Riley unloaded on any of the candidates yet?
Tina Fey hasn't been a writer on SNL for two years.
This picture needs to be in wider circulation:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Clintons_experience.html
Hillary's Dukakis/tank picture?
Tim K,
While I don't want to sit here and defend SNL's material,(which wasn't my point anyways)I don't think its as bad as a lot of people think. I certainly don't think the term "jump the shark" applies either. While its not as funny as it was in its "prime," I don't think its lowered itself to "jump the shark" territory.
My God, that Hillary Dukakis/tank picture is awesome. Sinbad must pass the CiC threshold.
And yes, I realize my "post" contained a "lot" of "quotes." Sorry.
Nipsey!
Sandy, I object to your calling John Petty a "nerd." We nerds have an encyclopedic knowledge of pointless pop-culture facts. Mr. Petty is, more accurately, a dweeb.
Tyro,
You're absolutely right. John would probably be a dweeb, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that he could be a geek. Spaz, however, is probably out of the question.
The more I read "take a guitar player and a comedian with you", the funnier it gets.
Still, I'm waiting for Tim K to tell me what I should think about Sinbad.
"Darrell Hammond does a hilarious Jesse Jackson all the time and no one seems to have a problem with it.
Posted by Jayhawk Max | March 11, 2008 4:34 PM"
The first time I saw Hammond in blackface playing Jackson I just kind of stared at the screen for a while in disbelief. I don't have a problem with a white actor doing an impersonation of a black person who is in the public eye if they do a good one, especially if they aren't someone who is going to be lampooned every other week. However, there is a decent chance that Obama will be at least the nominee, if not our next president. Armisen's impersonation is ok, but is still lacking. It's not something I want to see for the next 4-8 years for entertainment. Think how boring whats-his-face has been as Bush since Will Ferrell (ok, whoever put "Ferrell" into Firefox's spellcheck needs to get a life) left and how much comedic gold that squandered.
"Still, I'm waiting for Tim K to tell me what I should think about Sinbad.
Posted by Seitz | March 11, 2008 5:17 PM"
He'll tell you that obviously Sinbad passes the Commander-in-Chief test and that if you disagree, then you're naive. Then he'll make some comment about race that suggests he didn't get that the laugh track on "All in the Family" was laughing at Archie, not with him. Then when you call him out for being an asshole, he'll say that you're persecuting him just because he supports Clinton.
SNL will get a new Obama. Ther is no chance they won't. That's why they did the last sketch the way they did. They had still pictures and a voiceover because they know that Armisen is terrible.
John Petty,
You don't know who Sinbad is? Let me guess, you don't watch Television, and you only watch foreign films with subtitles. You're a nerd. I wish the worst upon you.
Hi Sandy,
I am NOT a nerd, and I'm too old to be a dweeb or a geek. (Spaz, however, could work.)
But I still have never heard of somebody named Sinbad, and I haven't the faintest idea why I should care what he thinks about anything.
I do wish you the best however.
I remember hearing people give the usual "SNL isn't nearly as funny as it used to be and is way past its prime," back when I was in college.
That was 20 years ago.
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!
I think Sinbad and Hillary are equally experienced in foreign policy and comedy.
John Petty- Well, I still don't believe that you've never hear od Sinbad. And the only reason you should care what he thinks is because he was there. And he realizes that Hillary is full of shit. Outside of that, you should only listen to him if you want to laugh yourself to the point of orgasm. Unless you're too old to have those anymore...JUST KIDDING! I love you.
Ferruge- Yeah, I agree. Its called nostalgia, and some people suffer from it a great deal.
John Perry, now that you've mastered the keyboard on your computer, try typing in "Sinbad" at that google site. You'll find you can do that with just about everything you don't understand. :)
I haven't the faintest idea why I should care what he thinks about anything.
You shouldn't. That's kind of the point. When pressed on her foreign policy experience, the Clinton campaign pointed to a trip she took with a second rate celebrity. The point of what he's saying isn't so much what he thinks, it's pointing out the simple fact that Clinton didn't do anything substantive in Bosnia.
Well, you can spin all this stuff however you want, but Hillary has been to dozens of countries, knows many leaders of the world personally, serves on the Armed Services Committee in the Senate, and, according to polls, passes the CIC test.
Face it, folks. National security is a weakness for your guy. That doesn't mean he's a bad guy, or a bad candidate. He brings other strengths.
It's just that national security cred is not one of them.
John Petty-
Parsing, exaggeration, and honesty are weaknesses for your gal.
Just ask Sinbad.
I don't think even the most ardent supporters of Obama would claim national security as one of his strengths. And the very fact that it is not a strength could very well mean that it is a weakness. But again, that is missing the point. The point is that national security isn't a strength of Clinton's either. Not even close. And the very fact that she's been touting it as such is pretty laughable.
Bullshit. I'll point to national security as his strength. He got Iraq right, she fucked it up. Was there some other test she actually took and passed that you want to discuss?
Pointing out that going on a USO tour wasn't an essential role in Bosnia doesn't require much spin.
Obama probably is the weaker national security candidate (although I'm not sure what the polls actually say), but that wouldn't necessarily make him the weaker national security president. A lot of us support Obama because we have more faith in his judgment. This is ultimately more important than comparing how many countries each candidate has been to. But if committees are important to you, Obama is on the Foreign Relations and Homeland Security committees... and national security is about more than just the armed forces. Perhaps part of the reason he doesn't poll as well on national security is that his opponents make specious arguments about him not being chummy with world leaders or showing a willingness to actually talk with other countries before bombing them.
Ibid, I respectfully disagree. I'm not willing to play in the bogus frames that the Clinton campaign creates. HRC keeps talking about some mythical C-in-C test. The Iraq War vote is the closest thing we have to that test and she flunked it.
If Sinbad wants the SNL Obama gig, he's gonna have to slim down to his The Cosby Show weight, rather than his A Different World-onward girth.
Not That There's Anything Wrong With That (tm). I've gained a few pounds since the mid-eighties, too. I'm just saying.
When Sinbad is destroying your foreign policy cred, should you still be considered a serious candidate?
Hillary's harrowing, sometimes hillarious, Bosnia trip is the kind of foreign experience that money just can't buy. In fact, Obama is now rumored to be talking with Sinbad about the possibility of him joining his administration as Secretary of State and asking Cheryl Crow to be his National Security Advisor (don't laugh, we've had worse).
Hillary is a woman of action, not just words. She isn't interested in making speeches, she believes in actions, in changing the world. In fact, one of her world-changing actions was to give a speech in Bejing!
So, you Obama supporters with your extreme bias can read it and weep. Her extensive foreign experience is well-documented. She *did* travel to some 80 countries and it is a matter of public record that she,... uh..., had tea and cookies with the wives of the leaders of those countries!
Then, there is her extensive domestic experience. As First Lady she picked up experience that "crossed the threhhold" for Commander-in-Chief. The fact that she was near Bill on a number of occasions gives her that type of experience. In fact, we use that criteria, then Monica Lewinsky also crossed that threshhold (or perhaps knelt down in front of it).
Good grief. THis is not the so-called election of our Lifetime..... this is a bad episode of American Idol.
Like MAYBE Sinbad would have been privy to or included in any high-ranking conversations of combat zone visits. Take the time to pick up a book Sinbad, and research the FIrst Lady's activities...they are well documented and vouched for. You are hardly a PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN. Another Obama fan with absolutely no manners. And yet, he gets coverage in the Washington Post. The media is trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator of society....just for ratings.
Senator Obama - let's forgive your lack of foreign policy experience for a moment. What have you lately, since being in the Senate? Wasn't is your only sponsored legislation that actually PASSED - entitled "Aid to the Republic of Congo." No doubt part of your Afro-Centric foreign policy.
[ Forgive my many typos in previous post ]
For an encore, why not stage a debate between Nicholson and Sinbad!
Hillary toured the frontlines of the international peacekeeping mission. CNN reported:
At a second outpost, Camp Bedrock, Mrs. Clinton visited a M.A.S.H. unit, the only full-service U.S. Army hospital in Bosnia. The three-hour tour of the frontlines of the international peacekeeping mission were filled with the gritty reality of a military operation, a far cry from traditional first lady photo opportunities, and Mrs. Clinton seemed more than comfortable with that. [CNN, 3/25/99]
A day later, the Charleston Gazette reported that "Protected by sharpshooters, Hillary Rodham Clinton swooped into a military zone by Black Hawk helicopter Monday...This trip to Bosnia marks the first time since Roosevelt that a first lady has voyaged to a potential combat zone..."
"We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."
Oh, please.
I saw a picture of Angelina Jolie at a refuge camp in Africa. There was a UN soldier with a sound-suppressed submachine gun accompanying her.
Here's the shot:
http://johnmurdoch.free.fr/images/unhcr/unhcr011.jpg
Check this shot out:
http://johnmurdoch.free.fr/images/unhcr/unhcr025.jpg
Or this one:
http://johnmurdoch.free.fr/images/unhcr/unhcr091.jpg
Those were clearly dangerous places.
You want diplomacy experience?
Angelina in Pakistan:
http://johnmurdoch.free.fr/images/unhcr/pakistan-02.jpg
With Colin Powell at UNHCR:
http://johnmurdoch.free.fr/images/unhcr/unhcr020.jpg
At the World Economic Forum in Davos:
http://johnmurdoch.free.fr/images/unhcr/worldforum-025.jpg
Dump Hillary! Run Angelina for President!
Ok you people endlessly going on about being "strong on national security" - what do you actually mean by that and how would it translate into political action? Willingness to have the US military kill a bunch of brown people occasionally? Ability to pick up a phone and talk to a foreigner? Or is it just one of those totally vacuous memes devoid of any meaning that gets thrown around a lot by people who don't really know what they're talking about and are so entrenched in the political language game that they don't even notice this anymore.
And John Petty, I've never heard of Sinbad either since I live in the UK, but don't tell us you haven't heard of Sheryl Crow, please.
Ivana, you've clearly never heard of the Lugar-Obama non-proliferation legislation that was enacted into law, helping round up loose nuclear and conventional weapons. You've never heard of the Coburn-Obama "Google for government" bill that was passed into law. You apparently missed the largest Senate ethics reform legislation since Watergate that Obama co-authored. And he's written and passed a number of other pieces of legislation too. So, no, your claim that he's only passed one bill in his time in the Senate is patently not true. And I contrast his record with Sen. Clinton, who has mostly focused on bringing home pork to her constituents.
If you'd like to compare the candidates in detail, I urge you to check out the Library of Congress records at thomas.loc.gov.
As for why Sinbad gets to be an expert, perhaps you missed the part where he was there for every piece of the experience that Hillary claims qualifies her to be commander-in-chief.
The war in Bosnia ended in December 1995. After that, there was no fighting or sniper fire in the country, especially not in March 1996.
I know this; I lived through the entire war as a child. I should put this on my resume, it seems it’s a great qualification for important positions.
If the trip was so dangerous, do you think they would send Presidents wife and daughter there?
SAVO HELETA
Author of "Not My Turn to Die:
Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia"
http://savoheleta.livejournal.com
A transcript of the inevitable Pennsylvania debate:
http://thefivehumors.blogspot.com/2008/03/transcript-of-inevitable-pennsylvania.html
Hillary should hire Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahhaf (remember the" Bagdad Bob" on Iraqi TV during the invasion?). He should be able to pass her test about the "experience" required in communicating to the media. If Hillary added him to her staff, Mark Penn, Harold Ickes and Howard Wolfson could stay on as her trusted and loyal advisors but all three should have to clear their public comments with their new mentor.
Comments closed March 25, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Sinbad is redeemed!
I begged you guys to run with this story - I called you out on TPM! Yglesias, Sullivan, Ambinder, the whole lot of you! But you SAT ON IT!
Sinbad showed you! Sinbad's back in the SPOTLIGHT, baby!
Clinton/Sinbad '08 - DO WE EAT HERE OR AT THE NEXT PLACE?!
Posted by Sinbad | March 11, 2008 3:08 PM